A programme started in the summer of 2012, the Village Kids’ Awareness Programme conducted by the LWF is in its 8th leg, and yet the learning from the students and the rural side of the wilderness continues.

The primary objective of the awareness sessions conducted by LWF has been to help enable village communities living in these areas to engage and interact with their surroundings in a manner that is mutually beneficial to both, forests and people.

The tiger is at the top of the food chain and hence is an indicator species. Through the tiger, nature ensures that there is a balance in the ecosystem. Therefore, the extinction of the tiger will result in the loss of lesser fauna and consequently the forests too.

When Archana a student living in Rohaniya village told us, “Tiger ki raksha karne se pehle humein apni raksha karna zaroori hai!”, we were indignant. We wondered why they didn’t want to save the tiger and how they expected to survive without it!

“Aisa dikhta hai kya tiger?” asked Om Prakash Yadav, pointing to the handsome face of a tiger that stared at us from our banner of LWF. Om Prakash Yadav has spent all his life in a village on the periphery of Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve (BTR) and the truth is that he has never seen a tiger nor an image of this beast.

LWF and VIDYA NGO have collaborated to spread awareness about wildlife and the environment and to inculcate in people the need to protect and preserve them. VIDYA is an organisation that conducts holistic and integrated programmes that focus on education and empowerment, for children and adults, from lesser-privileged sections of society.